Unpacking Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch & PC)

Unpacking is a lot cheaper than a weekend spa retreat or an introductory course on organizational planning. It isn’t a high-octane experience, nor is it one that has the threatening demeanor of a relentlessly aggressive game. No, if Unpacking is anything at all, it’s a cozy spot for you to hang your coat and rest your head—a familiar cubby in which you can remove yourself from the hustle and bustle of the world and wax storybook aesthetics. With a sizable chapter selection and a ton of homely comforts to organize and unbox, it doesn’t just give you a chance to take a breather; it gives you the keys to a creative sandbox that oozes warmth and radiant energy.

Unpacking has often been earmarked as one of the most influential organization puzzlers on the market, with its generous collection of set pieces and rooms establishing the backbone for a genre that cradles an increasingly sophisticated demographic. It’s sweet, soothing, and an absolute delight to work through. However, to call it a perfect game just wouldn’t be fitting, given that it falls into a rather niche category that, frankly, doesn’t appeal to the whole cookie, so to speak. But let’s not dwell on the negatives, for the game is, in all honesty, one of the better organizing sims that money can buy. Don’t believe us? Read on.

A Spot to Hang Your Coat

Unpacking subtly puts forth a sweet and relatable theme for you to, well, unpack, over an episodic tale that sees you taking to the role of an unnamed “hero” in an ordinary world. As the unseen protagonist in this storybook series, you take on the challenge of organizing rooms in a manner that speaks to specific age groups. For example, in the first chapter, you sort through a children’s bedroom and allocate toys and other adolescent treasures to various cubbies, whereas in the later stages, you organize a student’s dorm and, after so long, an adult’s first apartment. You get the idea: Unpacking takes you on a journey through a regular life, all whilst taking every opportune moment to put you in the frame during several of the pivotal events that helped shape a character.

The story here is as simple as they come, and therefore, it opts for familiarity over extravagant twists and turns. Alas, there are no heroines here, but there are regular folks who adore organized suites and homely comforts, therapeutic cubbies and all things Feng Shui. From infancy to the teenage years, first apartments to the golden years, Unpacking transports you into a cozy storybook where you pull the strings and shape the images. It doesn’t strive to be flashy; it settles for being homely. And honestly, that’s one or the main reasons why I absolutely adore the concept.

The idea behind Unpacking is simple: remove the tape from one of several boxes, and find the proper locations for each item that you pull out. You can alternate between rooms, as well as choose which spot to work on. That being said, as Unpacking is a puzzler at heart, it doesn’t allow for you to decide where each item should go, but rather, it presents you with the task of establishing their corresponding destination. For example, if you unbox a stack of books, then you would naturally have to organize them by colors and sizes, and not, for instance, bundle them in a no serial order and simply move on to another object. To say that it’s a challenging game just wouldn’t be true, though it does ask that you think outside of the box, so to speak.

A Trove of Clutter

At the heart of Unpacking is a genuinely relaxing and engaging experience that bends and weans to your creativity over a relatively sizable episodic journey. It doesn’t lather much context over the course of said journey, though it does provide you with subtle details —family heirlooms, frequent notes, and recurring books or trinkets, for example. It doesn’t go much deeper than that, but then, it doesn’t really need to in order to put you in the picture. See, where Unpacking falls short in terms of transparency, it makes up for with intricate details and familiar jigsaw pieces, with each of these pieces forming a grander picture of the protagonist’s journey from childhood to adulthood. It’s sweet, charming, and oh-so-peaceful.

In addition to the weighty story mode and laid-back challenges, Unpacking also comes clean with a cozy graphical interface that’s incredibly easy on the eye and, to illustrate its natural-born idyllic essence, a lot of fun to explore. With copious amounts of books, utensils, and treasures to stash and organize, it ensures that you always have something to look at. And the final result? Well, that pretty much speaks for itself. Granted, there isn’t much of a climax for you to work towards, but there are small milestones that help flesh out the narrative and keep you second guessing the next episode. That, in all honesty, is a joy in itself.

Verdict

Unpacking isn’t the dopamine-filled organizational puzzler that you want; it’s a soothing pinch of comfort that works only to keep your mind occupied and your creative imagination waxed. With its relatable nature and homely ties, it captures a near-idyllic experience that feels awfully satisfying to watch unfold, even in a cluttered space, weirdly. And that’s exactly what I’m taking away from this: Unpacking is, although simple in its own right, a cathartic endeavor that just feels good to unpack on a cold evening.

If it seems as if I’ve spent the last few minutes singing Unpacking’s praises, then that’s mainly because I’m still with the mindset that it is, despite its missing parts and general lack of context, arguably one of the best puzzlers of its kind. Of course, it is a simple affair, and it doesn’t tout much by way of visual complexity, yet it does a remarkable job of keeping you hooked from the moment you remove the tape from your first box to the second you stash that final family heirloom. And that, really, is something that not a lot of indie organizing sims can pull out of the bag. Well played, team.